Canada Housing Starts

Last Release

Apr 30, 2025

Actual

278.6

Units In

Thousand units

214.2

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Jun 16, 2025

Time to Release

30 Days 11 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
333.28 Mar 2021	90.7 Aug 1982	193.1 Thousand units	1977-2025	Canada Mortgage And Housing Corporation

In Canada, a housing start is defined as the beginning of construction work on the building where the dwelling unit will be located. This can be described in 2 ways: usually, the stage when the concrete has been poured for the whole of the footing around the structure; or an equivalent stage where a basement will not be part of the structure.

Latest Updates

Housing starts in Canada jumped 30% month-over-month to 278,606 units in April 2025 from 214,205 units in March and well above market expectations of 227,500. Urban housing starts in areas with populations over 10,000 rose 28% to 259,788 units, compared to202,668 in the previous month. Rural housing starts also increased significantly, climbing from 10,870 to 18,818 units. On an annual basis, urban housing starts rose 17% to 21,720 units. Among major cities, Montréal posted the largest gain (64%) due to a sharp rise in multi-unit projects, while Vancouver saw a 6% increase for similar reasons. In contrast, Toronto experienced a 25% decline, driven by a drop in multi-unit starts.